The Good Life?
Earlier yesterday, I came across a link to a book that has just recently hit the stands, Living Well, Spending Less by Ruth Soukup. This book has intrigued me because as foreign missionaries, we are constantly trying to live well and spend less. We have to raise our own monthly living expenses as well as our ministry expenses, so we are truly relying on Faith.
Faith in knowing God will provide for all that He would have us do this year.
We have to be good stewards of the money He gives us. Not only is this a good habit but this is what God instructs us to do. So on to my two cents worth about the video I watched yesterday.
In this video she was talking about the good life and what it use to mean to her and what it means to her now. Now remember, this is just my opinion so take it for that, just someones opinion. She is on the right track about saying that
Secret #1:The good life is not what we think it is.
She shares that it is not about what we have but who we are. I just want to take it a step further and say not just who we are but whose we are.
I AM A CHILD OF THE KING and a good life for me is defined in my relationship with Jesus. If I am obediently walking daily with Him and striving to bring glory and honor to Him each day, then to me this is the good life. The author shares about her spending habits and how they had gotten so out of hand that she and her husband were fighting all the time. She was trying to console herself through shopping. They decided to have separate bank accounts and that she would get a certain amount each month. When the money was out, it was out until the next month. Well, she began her blog to hold herself accountable because she felt she was not “a money saving expert, she was a money spending expert.”
Can you relater to her? Have you found yourself at a point in your life that you felt that the only thing that would console you is things?
Luckily, during the last two years her mindset changed. She realized that there wasn’t as much that she wanted and she realized that the good life was not about how much stuff she had. It was about who she was. I touched on this a little above but I want to go deeper here. Now if I have not said this yet, I have not read the book or have I received the other 11 secrets within The LWSL 12 Secrets Challenge so she may go deeper. If we profess to be Christians then we must be different than the world. I am not saying that you can’t have things or money but it is what you do with your things and money that makes the difference. Are you serving the Lord with what He has given you? Is your home a place that glorifies Him?
It is about learning to live each day bringing Glory and Honor to Him, no matter what you have been given. Ruth adds that “We must learn to control the love of money and things or it will consume us”…right on target but lets take it deeper by looking at scripture about this. In God’s word he gives us clear instructions about how to handle money. Here are a few scriptures about money:
[ The Folly of Riches ] He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.
For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Does money make you have the good life?
What is the good life?
Each of us will define the good life differently and I am not here to make someone feel bad for having money. It is what we do with our money that matters most. When Jesus wanted to teach others he spoke in parables. We see in Matthew 13:10-17 a perfect example.
“10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11 [d]Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12 For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13 Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 [e]In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,
‘[f]You will keep on hearing, [g]but will not understand;
[h]You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;
15 For the heart of this people has become dull,
With their ears they scarcely hear,
And they have closed their eyes,
Otherwise they would see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart and return,
And I would heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 17 For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
Matthew 25:29
29 “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away…”
Luke 12: 47-48
47 And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, 48 but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of [x]a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more
So again, the question to ponder today is:
What is the good life?
What defines you either having the good life or not?
Does money make you have the good life?
Prayer: Father, show me what it means to truly have the good life. Open my eyes to your will for my life. Help me to bring glory and honor to you each and everyday. Thank you for what you have provided to me, may I use it to bring glory and honor to you.
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